About the Foundation

Our Mission

National reach with local impact. The mission of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation is to help vulnerable families with critically ill or injured children stay in their homes while a child is in treatment.

Our Vision

Supporting families across America. Our vision is a world where families with sick children receive mortgage or rental payment assistance while a child is in treatment, allowing parents and guardians to focus on the medical needs of a child rather than on a home in jeopardy.

About The Foundation

Committed to helping families around the country stay in their homes while a child is being treated for a critical illness or injury, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) established the MBA Opens Doors Foundation (Opens Doors) to help families in need meet their mortgage and rental obligations.

Under the leadership of David and Mary Stevens and Dan Arrigoni and launched in October 2011 with $50,000 in seed funding from the MBA, Opens Doors established the Home Grant Program. The program provides mortgage and rental payment assistance to families with critically ill or injured children, allowing parents and guardians to be by a child’s side during treatment.

In early 2012, the Foundation was granted 501(c)(3) status and began disbursing grants to families in need. By the end of that year, 37 grants were made to families through a relationship with Children’s National Medical System in Washington, DC. The relationship connected Opens Doors with social workers at the hospital who work directly with families in need, facilitating an application process that allowed a small but committed Opens Doors Board of Directors to review and award the Foundation’s grants.

Since its founding, MBA, has generously provided support that covers the Foundation’s administrative expenses so that every dollar donated goes directly to supporting families in need.

Mary and David Stevens

Dan Arrigoni

What we do

One of the most trying times in a family’s life is when a child is critically ill. The toll is both emotional and financial and can lead to a destabilizing home life, especially when a family’s home is placed in jeopardy.

The Opens Doors Foundation, through its Home Grant Program, provides relief in a time of personal crisis. In a short period of time, the Home Grant Program has become a critical part of a family’s support structure, especially when a parent or guardian must take unpaid leave to be with a child.

Grants up to $2,500 are made monthly to families in need of mortgage or rental payment assistance. True to our mission, our grant program aids, nurtures and empowers families and communities and strengthens connections between real estate finance companies, the medical community and vulnerable families in need.

"Thank you for all your generosity and support you have extended to our family. We can't thank you enough for selecting our family as one of the recipients of your generous financial gifts. Your thoughtfulness moved us to tears and truly has helped us through such a difficult time. When your child has a life ending illness you take each day as it comes. Some days are better than others. But the one constant in our lives are the friends, community and complete strangers that pray for our family. We consider you to be part of our family. For all you do, we thank you."

"Thank you so much! It means the world to me that you have been able to help me pay one month's mortgage while we are going through this difficult time in our lives. God most certainly will bestow his blessings to all of you! Love, hugs and many blessings sent you're guys' way!"